ABC debuted online today a preview of the pilot of its upcoming half-hour comedy Selfie. Were the leads of this limited but endearing sitcom anyone but the entirely charming, gifted pair of John Cho and Karen Gillan, it would fall flat. Yet, because of them, and a few hints of surprising writing nuance, it ultimately …
Of course, Guardians isn’t perfect, as it struggles to find a consistent tone. Sometimes it wants to be more adult, with bawdier language and sexual innuendo. For instance, Quill’s rumination that “If I had a black light, this place would look like a Jackson Pollock painting!” is pretty sophisticated for mainstream PG-13 fare. Other times, it feels as though the filmmakers are pandering to a much younger audience. You can almost visualize a ‘Dancing Groot’ doll gyrating in your kid’s Happy Meal.
For every good sequence, there’s one that’s muddled with bad camerawork and editing. Like a lot of blockbuster action, it’s barely legible; you have to work to keep up with it, and that work interferes with the enjoyment. The story also sags in the middle, as it seems to exist mainly to fill out the run-time. The protagonists take the MacGuffin to a dude they wish to sell it to, but the only real function of the section is to exposit what it is. It turns a big chunk of the plot into a shrug.
Amelia Pond is a child when the TARDIS crash lands in her back yard. When the Doctor attempts to hop the TARDIS forward 5 minutes and overshoots by twelve years, Amy grows up with the Doctor as her childhood imaginary friend. She has somewhat of a difficult childhood, acting out and insisting that the Doctor is real to the point where she’s put into therapy. Amy is incredibly close with her best friend Mels and becomes good friends with Rory as well, and the two eventually start dating. Amy is working as a kissogram and still living in the same house when she next encounters the Doctor as a late teenager.
Thanks to the likes of James Wan, paranormal horror is all the rage. From Paranormal Activity to Insidious and The Conjuring, audiences are irretrievably hooked to tales of nuclear families being bloodlessly menaced by only-fleetingly-visible entities of malicious intent. What’s remarkable about Mike Flanagan’s Oculus, which follows his no-budget wonder Absentia, is how it manages to wring genuine dread from a beyond-worn subgenre simply by paying close attention to the realities of its deeply troubled characters. Oculus functions equally well as a tragic psychodrama as it does a horror film.
Set in a spruced-up Glasgow, Not Another Happy Ending is an offbeat romantic comedy starring Karen Gillan as Jane, a quirky young novelist struggling to overcome a nasty bout of writer’s block. With the editorial guidance of her passionate but single-minded publisher, Tom (Stanley Weber), her debut autobiographical novel became a huge bestseller, as well as reuniting her with her estranged father (Gary Lewis) and landing her a relationship with a renowned but narcissistic screenwriter, Willie (Henry Ian Cusick). Relying on Jane’s new book to rescue his ailing publishing company, Tom believes that her newfound happiness is preventing her from writing and sets out to make her life as miserable as he can.
Doctor Who, Series 7, Episode 5: “The Angels Take Manhattan” Written by Steven Moffat Directed by Nick Hurran Airs Saturdays at 9pm (ET) on BBC America This week, on Doctor Who: River’s a pulp heroine, Amy and Rory are an old married couple, and the Doctor’s, once again, alone The Weeping Angels are one of …
Doctor Who, Series 7, Episode 4: “The Power of Three” Written by Chris Chibnall Directed by Douglas Mackinnon Airs Saturdays at 9pm (ET) on BBC America This week, on Doctor Who: Amy and Rory contemplate their lives while monitoring a slow invasion of small black cubes. Chris Chibnall continues his good work on Doctor Who, …
Doctor Who, Series 7, Episode 3: “A Town Called Mercy” Written by Toby Whithouse Directed by Saul Metzstein Airs Saturdays at 9pm (ET) on BBC America This week, on Doctor Who: The Doctor, Amy, and Rory are thrust into a moral quandary when they miss Mexico by 200 miles and end up in Mercy. For …
Doctor Who, Series 7, Episode 2: “Dinosaurs on a Spaceship” Written by Chris Chibnall Directed by Saul Metzstein Airs Saturdays at 9pm (ET) on BBC America This week, on Doctor Who: The Doctor recruits a gang, including a Big Game hunter, Amy, Rory, Rory’s dad Brian, and Queen Nefertiti, to investigate a mysterious spaceship set …
The British television series Doctor Who has been a staple of the science fiction landscape since the 60s, and after a brief hiatus, has successfully re-established itself under the guidance of ex-showrunner Russell T. Davies. In recent years, the show has seen a surge in popularity in North America, leading the BBC to ramp up their promotions …
Doctor Who, 2011 Christmas Special, “The Doctor, the Widow and the Wardrobe” Written by Steven Moffat Directed by Farren Blackburn Aired Christmas at 9pm (ET) on BBC America This week, on Doctor Who: The Arwell family’s Christmas present from the Doctor goes predictably awry Since its return in 2005, Doctor Who has established a tradition …
Doctor Who Review, Series 6, Episode 13: “The Wedding of River Song” Written by Steven Moffat Directed by Jeremy Webb Airs Saturdays at 9pm (ET) on BBC America This week, on Doctor Who: Wibbly-wobbly, timey-wimey, the Silence are back, we get a few answers, one particular question, and series six comes to a close. Series …
Doctor Who Review, Series 6, Episode 11: “The God Complex” Written by Toby Whithouse Directed by Nick Hurran Airs Saturdays at 9pm (ET) on BBC America This week, on Doctor Who: the TARDIS crew check in to a creepy hotel and have trouble checking out and the Doctor makes a decision This week, Doctor Who …
Doctor Who Review, Series 6, Episode 10: “The Girl Who Waited” Written by Tom MacRae Directed by Nick Hurran Airs Saturdays at 9pm (ET) on BBC America This week, on Doctor Who: Amy gets stuck in the whitest waiting room ever Last week, Doctor Who had limited success with a standalone episode. This week, they …
Doctor Who Review, Series 6, Episode 8: “Let’s Kill Hitler” Written by Steven Moffat Directed by Richard Senior Airs Saturdays at 9pm (ET) on BBC America This week, on Doctor Who: We met Mels, Melody, and River. Oh, and Hitler gets shoved in a closet. After a long wait, Doctor Who is back with the …
With the return of Doctor Who little more than a week away the BBC has released two short clips from the upcoming “Let’s Kill Hitler” written by Steven “The Grand Moff” Moffat himself. Check out the previews below, but don’t spoil it for me, I saving myself for the big day (there are rumours of …
It is hard to believe that I can’t wait for the end of summer, but with the return of Doctor Who Series six only days away, I find I am eagerly looking forward to August the 27th, when the Doctor returns in “Let’s Kill Hitler”. Luckily, the prequel for the upcoming half of the 2011 …
As we wait with breathless anticipation for the second half of Series Six of Doctor Who, the BBC has just announced that it will air three Doctor Who specials in the run up to the show’s return Saturday August 27th . The specials will feature celebrity guests such as 30 Rock’s Scott Adsit, singer-songwriter Amanda …